By the Light of the Moon
by Dolphingirl32173
Summary: Damon watches as Elena's relationship with Stefan goes through its death throws due to Stefan's inability to tell her the truth. He decides this is the perfect opportunity to step in by the light of the moon and sweep her off her feet and into his arms for eternity. Much to his surprise, it's actually working. Damon/Elena Damon's view of Moonlit Seduction
1. The Start of Something More

By the Light of the Moon  
DG32173

Sarah: here's the sister-fic to _Moonlit Seduction._ I hope you enjoy Damon's viewpoint of that story!

_**DISCLAIMER**_  
If you recognize it and I hadn't claimed it in another story of mine, then you can safely assume that I don't own it. If I _do_ own, I'll claim it before the chapter it appears in. This is the only disclaimer for the whole fanfic.

_**WARNINGS**_  
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE! Starts in Season 1 after _Miss Mystic Falls_ but before _Isobel._ Rated M for my sanity, not that I have any. Damon's viewpoint. Also, be prepared to see Damon venting a lot of his frustration with his brother's actions at the start of this chapter. Due to Stefan's refusal to acknowledge him, Damon will be giving a pretty much one-sided monologue for the majority of that venting.

_**SUMMARY**_  
Damon watches as Elena's relationship with Stefan goes through its death throws due to Stefan's inability to tell her the truth. He decides this is the perfect opportunity to step in by the light of the moon and sweep her off her feet and into his arms for eternity. Much to his surprise, it's actually working. _**Damon/Elena**_

_**SHOUT-OUT**_  
Again, I want to express my immense gratitude to VDfan2107 for his help as my beta-reader as well as his helpful suggestions that inspire my muse.

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Chapter 1  
The Start of Something More

I watch my brother through the barred window in the door to the vampire holding cell he's in. The same one he had imprisoned _me_ in for three long days in an attempt to desiccate me. "How's it feel to be the one who's been betrayed by someone you thought you could trust?" I ask him. "Sucks, doesn't it? Yeah, well, you've betrayed both Elena _and_ I too many times. It was about time we showed you how it felt." He stays silent, his back to me. But I know he's awake. The vervaine Elena injected him with is putting him through hell, but he's fighting like crazy to keep from crying out in pain. "Go ahead, pretend to ignore me. I'm going to say my peace whether or not you want to hear it. I've done a lot of rotten things to Elena since showing up in her life. I've been the reason people she's known her whole life have died. I used one of her best friends from infancy as a walking Happy Meal and tried to kill the other in a fit of rage. Hell, I even ripped someone's heart out while she waited in the car. I didn't _tell_ her that I ripped Bree's heart from her chest, but something tells me she _knows_ that I killed the traitorous witch. But the one thing I've _never_ done to Elena was lie to her face. I've omitted important parts of the truth and misled her _that_ way. But I _never_ tacked a lie onto anything I've told her. I never tricked her into thinking that I'm perfect because I know _damn_ well I'm not. I even _hinted_ to her that she and Katherine share a remarkable resemblance, though she obviously didn't pick up on it."

He continues to refuse to talk to me, but I can tell by the tension in the air that he's listening. "You, however, have lied to her so many times I'm betting she's upstairs wondering if she is a complete idiot for believing you time and again only to find out that you have _lied_ to her time and again. As I told her, I'd _normally_ be _thrilled_ to have you on the human stuff. But apparently the changes she's made in me are pretty damn immense. Because I _don't_ like the fact that you're on it. And not just because your lack of control can easily put the secret council on our trail. No, I don't like it because you are a risk to the innocents in this town who have no _clue_ that everything they've grown up believing is one big charade. Take that Amber girl you were so deadset on draining the life from that you _threw_ me into a tree when I tried to pull you off her. She didn't deserve to die, not like that, not that young. You better be _damned_ grateful that I managed to compel her to think some animal attacked her and get some of my blood in her before she lost consciousness." I rake a hand through my hair. "A mere six months ago, I wouldn't have given a damn if she lived to tell the whole damn town that you're a vampire or if she died. I give credit for that change to Elena. She's been busting her ass trying to redeem me from all the shit I've done over the decades. And, apparently, whatever she's doing is working."

I look at the plastic bottle of deer blood in my hand. "I brought you something," I tell him, tossing it through the bars. It lands on the ground next to him. "You won't be any good to anyone desiccated. But it's up to you. Either drink that deer blood or desiccate in there. Because the only way I'm letting you out of that cell is once you're firmly on the animal diet again. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm going to need your help to deal with those tomb vampires. Teaming up with the teacher to rescue you from them is one thing. Taking them down completely is something else entirely. And until they're taken out, they are going to be a threat to Elena, Jeremy, Jenna, and every other person in this town. They're out for vengeance for what this town did to them in 1864. They don't _care_ that the actual people _involved_ in the act are long dead and gone. They don't _care_ that the majority of the members of this town don't even _know_ about what happened that night. They are angry and vengeful. They want _someone_ to pay for them being deprived of freedom and blood for a hundred-and-forty-five years. They would prefer _many_ people pay. They don't _care_ that the people living here now are innocent of that crime and that the majority of them don't even _know_ about vampires and witches and so on. All that matters is that the people of Mystic Falls call the town that tried to kill them home. And that's enough reason to kill every last person in this town. I'm going to need more help than just the teacher to help me take them down. Whether Elena wants you to stick around after that is up to her. But, as I'm sure you recall, she was _not_ pleased to find out that she had believed yet another of your lies."

I study him as he remains completely motionless. "What happened to the brother I had that was so damned honest that he ended up getting us both killed? Is that what made you decide that you can never tell the truth to anyone?" I ask. "Hate to break it to you, Steffie, but what happened in 1864 happened nearly a hundred-and-forty-five years ago. It is 2009, little bro. You don't have to spend eternity feeling like you have to repent for every damn thing that ever happened to _both_ of us. That's your problem: you can't let the past go. Wake up, Steffie. The past is the past. It can't be changed, no matter how much we want it to be. All we can do is live one day at a time. Think about it this way: if we had done things differently in 1864, we would have probably lived to a ripe old age and died _long_ before Elena was born. Even if we had done things differently in the years since, we probably would never have met her. Don't know about you, but she's the only person _I've_ ever met that could be called an earthbound angel. She's been busting her ass trying to redeem us _both_ of our pasts. But _you_ are fighting her so damn hard that you're not even _budging._ The more I get to know her, the more I want to _be_ a better man. The more I want to be able to feel _worthy_ of the friendship she has been gracious enough to gift me with."

I sigh. "Stefan, she gave you a _helluva_ lot more than mere friendship. She gave you her heart. She even gave you her virginity," I remind him. "And what have you done to repay her for those precious gifts?" He stays silent, but the tension in the air intensifies. "I'll tell you what you did. You lied to her face so many times she's left analyzing every word that leaves your lips, trying to detect the faintest _hint_ that you're lying to her again. You've kept things from her, things she has every right to know. Her efforts to pry the truth from her sound a _helluva_ lot like torture. You won't _believe_ how many times she's come to me in tears over catching you in yet another lie. From what I gather, she and her brother were raised to value honesty above all else. Your inability to be _honest_ with her is tearing her apart inside. She hasn't said as much, but I've got eyes. I know her a _helluva_ lot better than you do for all that I'm just a friend and you're her _boyfriend._ Sure, my methods of learning more about her may have been underhanded and may piss her off every damn time she discovers another incident where I went through her things in her room while she was out. But at least I'm putting forth the _effort_ to learn more about who she is and who she was before her parents drowned. You? You haven't even _bothered_ to even _consider_ that she's not _just_ the doom-and-gloom persona she's been portraying since her parents died. You watched her over the summer and decided that she has _always_ been like that. Wake the fuck _up,_ brother. You should know better than anyone the sudden death of _one_ parent, much less _both_ of them, is enough to drive someone off the deep end. The spark of _fire_ that's been flaring up in her lately is a _taste_ of who she was before her parents drowned. Did you know that she places the blame of what happened that night squarely on her own shoulders? She blames _herself_ for being the reason her loved ones died that night _because she broke a promise._" Stefan stiffens at that. "Sounds like a pretty damn familiar scenario, doesn't it? Hmm… where have I heard of _that_ happening before?" I ask cruelly. I snap my fingers. "Oh, that's _right!"_ I say, as if I just remembered. _"You_ broke a promise to _me_ in 1864 when you went to Father to try to 'reason' with him. You _promised_ me that you wouldn't say a damn word to Father about _anything_ remotely relating to vampires. But you broke your promise. Because of that, Katherine was captured, we were shot through the heart by our own father for trying to rescue her, and then you killed Father in completing transition. Not to mention you _further_ betrayed me by forcing _me_ to complete the transition when I wanted to die more than anything. It wasn't until I first laid eyes on Elena that I finally found it in myself to forgive you for both betrayals."

I shake my head at him. "Well, Elena was _supposed_ to attend Family Night that night because Jenna was in town on a visit. She and Jeremy both promised to attend. But, according to her diary entry several weeks later, she had grown _tired_ of being the good girl who did what was expected of her. She wanted to _party._ Then she got the invitation to the party in the woods. So she _broke her promise_ to her family and skipped family night so she _could_ party. She wanted a taste of the wild side for a once, a taste of what it's like to do what _she_ wanted rather than what the world wanted her to do. She got repaid for that taste with the deaths of her parents, who she loved just as much as she loves her brother and her aunt. Ever since she woke up in the hospital and overheard a nurse and a doctor arguing about whether to tell her about her parents' deaths or not, she has been living through grief, guilt, self-hatred, and self-blame. A lot like you, my brother. But when I read her journal entry about Georgia, I discovered that _she_ was finally ready to let her parents rest in peace and cast off the demons that have been haunting her. You won't believe _how_ surprised I was that _I_ was the reason she was ready to 'start living again rather than merely existing'. Her words, not mine. A few days later, I checked back with her journal and you won't _believe_ my surprise to see more than half the words of the entries since then blurred by tearstains. From what I could put together, her tears were _your_ fault. She and I had both seen the disappointment in her that appeared in your eyes whenever she started letting her inner fire burn brighter in her attempt to learn to live again. You have _no_ idea how much that disappointment in her attempt to get past her demons had damaged her self-esteem. No one can handle carrying around those demons forever. Not without major consequences in other areas of their life. You're a prime example of that."

"How?" Stefan croaks.

"And he can _actually_ speak," I say sarcastically. "I was wondering if maybe the vervaine had your tongue. You, Steffie, have let your role in what happened that day in 1864 consume you with grief and guilt. You betrayed _my_ trust by placing _your_ trust in a man who had done _nothing_ to deserve it. He may have been our father, but he only held that role because his blood ran in our veins. You were the reason the girl we both thought we loved was taken from us. Because of that, you tagged along when I went to 'rescue' her. Your broken promise to me got us _both_ killed by the very man you thought you could trust. Then, when you made it back to town after you woke up in transition, you had _no idea_ what was going on with you because Katherine didn't take the _time_ to train you in the ways of vampires while you were still human as she did me. Father _further_ destroyed your trust in him by trying to kill you _again._ Your vampire instincts took over because he was a threat to your life. You ended up plunging the stake into _him._ As he died, you fed on his blood. The sheer _stress_ from _all_ of that caught up with you and you lost your sanity. You never _did_ have much self-control because you were never chastised in your life for any of your mistakes because _I_ took the blame for anything you did wrong. What Lexi _should_ have done was _train_ you in self-control and how to control the vampire within you. She _didn't._ I was too torn up at the time to bother with the brother who had broken my trust. You've allowed yourself and your inner vampire to fall into nearly a century-and-a-half's worth of bad habits. While I'd _love_ to take the time to break you of those habits, I don't _have_ the time to do so. So I have to get you _back_ onto that revolting diet Lexi insisted you live on. Once we take care of those tomb vampires, I'm going to drudge up all the memories I have of the training Katherine gave me in the ways of vampires as well as every damn thing I've learned in training the vampires _I_ sired and I'm going to _force_ you to learn self-control and I'm going to _train_ you in controlling the monster that took up roost in your soul the second father shot that musket ball through your heart. I'm going to do what Lexi _should_ have done. I'm going to break you of those bad habits that have been going on too damn long. When I'm through, either you're going to be able to manage as a _proper_ vampire that can _control_ themselves even around a bloodbath or I'm going to have to stake you myself to put you out of your misery. Lexi's no longer here to baby you and, if you'll recall, I _never_ did, not even when we were humans. Elena's only seventeen. It hasn't even been _nine months_ since her life went to hell. But _she's_ ready to shove her demons aside and move on with life. _You're_ a hundred-and-sixty-two. _Your_ life went to hell nearly a century-and-a-half ago. And you're _still_ letting your demons rule you."

I shake my head in disappointment. "Hell, Jeremy's _sixteen._ He's lost his parents. He's lost the girl he's loved his _whole life_ in a way that she's _not_ coming back from. His sister had her boyfriend's nasty older brother meddle with his mind and take away the memory of how his girl has died without asking him what _he_ wanted. Sure, he's holding a grudge against his sister for her betrayal of his trust. But I can tell that he _will_ move on from it, given time. And sure, he got into drugs to block out the pain of losing his parents and nearly losing his sister all in the same night. But now he's _handling_ it. He's _not_ letting his demons get the best of him. He's been knocked down time and again, but he's gotten right back up every damn time. You got knocked down _once_ and you _gave up._ Think about all the hell the Gilbert kids have been put through. At the young ages of fourteen and sixteen, they lost both their parents at the same time. Parents who _loved_ them and who they loved in return. Elena could easily have died in that crash as well. They handled the loss in their own ways. But by the start of the school year, Elena was starting to let go. Jeremy took a little longer, but he's two years younger than her. Elena had already been testing her wings, so to speak. Jeremy was still firmly in the nest. Neither of them was prepared to have their parents taken from them so tragically. Jeremy was starting to recover with the help of Vicki. Hate to break it to you, but _you_ are just as responsible for what happened to that girl as I am. You locked me up and starved me of blood for three long days. I managed to break out but I was ravenous. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was stubborn enough to live through me draining her _to the point of death._ I brought her back here so I could use her to amuse me while waiting for the return of my ring, which you took. I warned you that night when you and Zach spiked my bourbon that there would be consequences for pissing me off like that. That those consequences was the death of Jeremy's girl in front of his eyes, we're both equally to blame. I'm not the only one who did things that hurt Elena. I did terrible things to people she grew up with. I'm behind the deaths of people she's known her whole life. But you have done things that have hurt her _just_ as much. My actions were directed at those _around_ her. I hurt her by hurting those she knew. You, however, hurt her _directly._ You lied to her face more times than I can even _begin_ counting. You can't bring yourself to trust her enough to tell her the damn truth. She's your _girlfriend,_ Stefan. Trust is a major part of a positive relationship. But your inability to trust has turned your relationship with that amazing young woman into a negative one. You can't bring yourself to tell her the truth about _anything._ And she no longer trusts a word you say."

I sigh. "You could have had the world with her," I tell him. "But you use one incident of misplaced trust as an excuse to trust _no one._ An earthbound angel gave you her heart and her virginity. But you betrayed her with your inability to be honest with her. And this last lie was one of the biggest you've told her and it very nearly resulted in disaster at what _should_ have been one of the biggest events of her life. You should know this: she went through with attending Miss Mystic Falls as a contestant to honor the memory of her mother. It was Miranda Gilbert's dream to see Elena crowned Miss Mystic Falls, not Elena's. But Elena's decision to believe you when you told her that you were on animal blood and safe to be her escort blew up in her face and could very easily have resulted in _completely_ ruining her attempt to honor her mother's memory. You better be damned grateful I stepped in to escort her in your place in order to keep her from being _completely_ humiliated. Lying to her was bad enough. Completely abandoning her in front of the town? Dick move, Stefan. Now, drink the animal blood. Or don't. _I'm_ going upstairs to check on how _she's_ holding up."

With that, I turn away from the heavy iron door and make my way upstairs. I find Elena in the foyer, sipping at a glass of my bourbon while staring up at the moon through one of the windows. Her necklace is in her hands again rather than around her neck. She takes it off when she's in the boarding house, preferring to carry it in her hands or, more preferably, a pocket. I can understand her reasons for doing this, but it doesn't mean I like that she does it. I watch her. The room is only lit by the nearly full moon shining through the windows. The effect on Elena is so breathtaking it's a good thing I don't _really_ need to breathe. It would be downright mind-boggling if it weren't for the sadness in her face and eyes. Elena's listening to _Good Girl_ by Carrie Underwood, which is playing on her IPod on repeat cranked up. My guess is she's comparing herself with the good girl in the song and finding that the similarities are even _more_ uncanny than her resemblance to Katherine. That's saying something, in my opinion.

I let her stay lost in her thoughts, though I know damn well that she knew the instant I walked in the room simply be the fact that her body had relaxed, the tension and stress lifting as if I had taken all of it from her shoulders. I admire the effect the gentle moonlight has on her. She closes her eyes when Stefan cries out in pain from the vervaine. But I eventually get fed up with how furrowed her brow is getting. I walk over and yank the card attached to the earbud in her right ear, successfully yanking it out. "You're going to get brood lines on par with St. Stefan's if you keep going down the path your thoughts are heading," I say. "So spill. What's troubling that pretty head of yours?"

She sighs, turns off her IPod, and turns to me. _"No one_ can _ever_ get brood lines to match your brother's," she tells me. "But if I'm not going to sink into despair, I need to vent to someone. And right now, you're the only one I _can_ vent to. My journal's not helping. Bonnie's not speaking to me because I refuse to cut you two out of my life. And Caroline's busy dating Matt. Her help in picking out my dress for Miss Mystic Falls was the most time I've spent with her in ages. Jeremy's not talking to me because I had you erase his memories of the night Vicki died."

I turn her towards one of the sofas and put my hand at the small of her back to guide her to the sofa. She flops down on it. I lift her feet so I can sit there and put them in my lap. "You said you need to vent, so vent," I say, fiddling with the strings of her sneakers. "I'm all ears."

She sighs and rakes a hand through her hair. "Where to even _begin?_ There's only so much I can take and my stress-o-meter is so far past the red zone it's a miracle I haven't cracked," she tells me.

"Why don't you start at the beginning," I suggest.

She closes her eyes. "Well, the first event, the one I feel _started_ the snowball effect on the stress-o-meter, was my decision on May 23rd. I chose to break a promise for the first time in my life. I didn't _want_ to be the 'good girl' who attended Family Night because that was expected of her. I had been getting the ever-increasing feeling of being _trapped_ by the 'good girl' routine I had spent my whole life perfecting. I wanted to break free, kick up my heels. I wanted a taste of what it would be like if I lived my life for _me_ rather than everyone else. I wanted to go to a party with my boyfriend of the time. So I did. Then Matt ruined the whole damn night by talking about the future he envisioned for us. And I got that feeling of being _trapped_ again. Because this whole damn _town_ expected me to fall in love with Matt, marry him, have his kids, and all that crap. I had been having a blast until he started down that line. I told him _exactly_ how that line of talking made me feel. I demanded to know where he got the damn idea that I even _wanted_ that life he had planned out all the way to what would be on our tombstones. I told him that, sure, I was dating him. But I only did it because I had fallen into the habit of being the 'good girl' who did what everyone else expected of me. I chewed him up and spat him out. Then I turned on my heel and called my parents for a ride home and then I called Bonnie to vent my frustrations. In the end, I wanted _out_ of the 'good girl' life I had habituated myself into. And my parents lost their lives for what? A party that had been ruined because I started feeling trapped all over again? If I had chosen to go with Caroline instead of asking Matt to go, I would have had a blast, lived it up, and it would have probably been close to sunrise when we finally called it quits. Or I could have just stayed home for Family Night like I had promised. Either way, my parents would probably still be alive. And I probably would _never_ have met your damn brother. Both of which would have been pluses."

"What about me?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at her.

She opens her eyes. "I get the feeling that you and I would have met no matter _what_ I chose to do that night," she tells me honestly. "You had come back to open that tomb. That means you would have been sticking around after you arrived in town, whenever that was. Mystic Falls is a _very_ small town. We would have crossed paths, I'm sure of it. Who knows? I could have lost my virginity to _you_ had I done that night differently." I smirk at that thought. She closes her eyes again. "All Stefan has ever done was lie to my face time and again. I should have known from the instant I found that picture of Katherine in his room that I could never trust him to tell me the truth. I foolishly thought that maybe, just _maybe,_ he'd see that the consequences of lying to me can be pretty severe. I should have _known_ that going back to him would have made him think that I'd _always_ forgive his lies." She takes a shaky breath and I can almost smell the tears she's trying to keep from surfacing. "I can't _handle_ any more lies. I'm already lying to everyone I know about what's going on with my life. I need people to tell me the damn _truth_ so I know what I need to do to protect my loved ones. My parents raised Jeremy and me on the basis of 'Trust for Trust'. To be able to give your trust to someone, you have to be able to receive their trust in return. Jeremy repeated those words to me when I found out he read my journal. He pointed out that, as the saying points out, trust works both ways. I couldn't trust him with the knowledge of what's going on. And he couldn't trust me to tell him the damn truth. When he pointed that out, I realized I was getting as bad as Stefan. I was getting to the point of becoming a compulsive liar. And that's one thought that scares the hell out of me. When you told me Stefan lied about being back on the animal blood diet and I saw for myself that I just can't believe a word he says, I felt my heart breaking. I'm no longer certain about anything he's told me. I know he told the truth about my adoption, but I had to pry it out of him in a manner that made me feel like I was pulling his nails out to get to the truth. I should have realized then that he doesn't think I'm strong enough to handle it when someone makes me face the bitter truth about something in my life. Well, seeing him throw you into a tree when you were trying to pull him off Amber was like getting ice water thrown on me. The rose-tinted glasses were snatched off and I could see the bleak reality: Stefan Salvatore can't be trusted. It's as simple as that."

"What are you going to do about it?" I ask.

"There's only one thing I _can_ do about it and be able to live with myself afterwards: I have to cut him out of my life. He could so easily turn on me and lie to my face about it. And he's such a good liar that I won't be able to know whether I should believe him or not. You've done horrible things to people I've known my whole life. You've omitted huge parts of the truth at times. But you have _never_ looked me in the eye and outright lied to my face. In my opinion, telling someone the truth is a sign of respect. You have _always_ respected me enough to tell me as much of the truth as you could at the time. I sometimes wonder if Stefan even knows what the truth _is_ anymore or if he believes even his _own_ lies. I'll help get Stefan back on animal blood, but then I'm going to tell him to get out of my life before I completely lose all patience with him and stake him myself. One way or another, I need to get him out of my life. I don't want to kill your brother because even with all that lies between the two of you, you're still brothers. You're all the family the other has left. Family is a powerful bond and not one that should be taken lightly. I don't want to take him from you Damon, but I can't handle hearing anymore of his lies." She bites her lips, obviously debating whether she should tell me something or not. "Stefan was behind my lie about being able to trust him to help you get the grimiore. He half-strangled me with the necklace and I was so terrified he would yank it completely from my neck and _compel_ me to lie to you that I promised to lie. After what happened the night my parents died, I swore to myself that I would never break another promise. But that was one promise I _shouldn't_ have held up."

"I figured he had something to do with your lies," I admit. "At the time, I only wanted to make you understand _just_ how betrayed I felt because of your lie. But later, when I calmed down, I realized that you would not have broken my trust in you unless Stefan somehow had his fingers on the strings. I've seen just how much you hate lying and liars. I've been wondering when you would finally reach your limit with Stefan's lies."

"I've been playing the role of the good girl," she says. "I've been doing what everyone expected of me. 'Date the good guy. Keep the bad boys at arms reach. The more miserable you are, the brighter your smile.' Well, the one everyone was fooled into believing was the 'good guy' is nothing but a compulsive liar who's probably forgotten _how_ to tell the truth without having someone rip into him to get it. You're the one everyone thinks is a bad boy. Even _you've_ come to believe that. But you're not as bad as you like to think you are. There's good in you. As for hiding my misery… I'm not going to let myself continue down this miserable dead-end road. I'm going to take my life back in my own hands and stop doing what others expect of me. I'm going to live my life in a way that makes _me_ happy."

"And what makes _you_ happy?" I ask.

She frowns and I'm surprised by her next words. "To be perfectly honest, I don't really know. I've spent so much of my life doing what will make _everyone else_ happy that I have no idea what makes _me_ happy," she tells me with a sigh.

"Well, you seemed to be having a blast in Georgia," I say, smirking at her. She opens her eyes. "C'mon, Elena, you just got through saying that you want to live your life for yourself. What do you want to do _right now?_ Take it from someone who knows: life is best lived in the moment. Tell me the very first thing that pops in your head."

"Dancing," she tells me. "I always _loved_ dancing. I miss it."

I smirk and slide out from under her feet so that I'm standing in front of her. I offer her my hand. "Dance with me?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at her.

"We need music," she tells me, placing her hand in mine.

"Elena," I say, pulling her to her feet. "We do _not_ need music. You and I, we have our own little song that no one else hears." I pull her against me, my left hand on her hip and my right hand holding her left. She places her right hand on my shoulder. "Close your eyes and listen." She obediently closes her eyes and listens. But I can see clearly that she's doing it wrong. I give her a chance to figure out what I meant. But it quickly becomes apparent I'm going to have to point it out to her. "Elena, you're doing it wrong. Don't listen with your _ears._ Listen for the song with your _heart."_

She frowns in confusion but obediently tries it my way. I start slowly guiding her in a dance that goes to the melody that plays in the back of my head whenever I'm near this beautiful woman. Her beauty goes beyond just her looks; it goes right down to her soul. I can see in her expression when she figures it out. I start humming the melody as we continue to dance. She opens her soft brown eyes to smile warmly at me. I wink at her before spinning her out and pulling her back in. I proceed to show Elena the full extent of my dancing skills, continuing to hum the song that belongs to _us._

I have a strong feeling that this is the start of something more than I ever thought I'd ever be worthy of having.

**Stefan**

I grit my teeth as Damon's hint that I have lost Elena with my lies is proven true by her words. I close my eyes, trying in vain to ignore them. But when they start dancing, I can feel the tears seeping out from under my eyelids. I find that I vaguely recognize the song Damon starts humming. But I only know it in bits and pieces. It's the song I hear in the back of my head when I'm near Elena, but it's as if someone had broken the record into many pieces, tried to glue it back together, and only _then_ played the song for me. Hearing Damon hum the song as it _should_ be played proves to me _just_ how badly my copy of it had been broken and fragmented. Damon and I had been hearing the same song in the back of our heads when near Elena, but the record I got the song from was damaged badly before I ever got my hands on it. Damon had gotten the pure form of the song from the orchestra as it was recorded. I get the feeling that this perfectly symbolizes our individual relationships with Elena. Damon had referred to her as an earthbound angel. I have to agree with that sentiment. I had gotten her heart and her virginity. But I didn't realize just how precious those gifts had been until she took her heart back. I know that if she could, she'd take her virginity back as well, but that's impossible.


	2. Taking Comfort, Giving Comfort

By the Light of the Moon  
DG32173

Sarah: and Chapter 2 of _By the Light of the Moon_ is here. I hope everyone enjoys.

_**REVIEW REPLIES**_  
Why does it seem like Elena's view on the sister-fic sets I write are so much more popular than Damon's view? Well, thanks to my lovely reviewers of the first chapter.

_jairem:_ so glad you are looking forward to seeing the story told from both sides with snippets of Stefan's view mixed in at the end of Damon's chapters. Here's more of Damon's take on the tale. with a touch of Stefan at the end

_YAZMIN V:_ I just _love_ having Stefan's faults pointed out to him in such plain English that he has no choice _but_ to face facts. I just wish Elena had realized a _whole_ lot sooner in the show who _really_ was the 'better brother'.

Gina: I can only work where my muse is, my dear reviewer. Otherwise the stories will end up being complete disasters. And most of the stories I posted under other fandoms are going to either be taken down to be rewritten or completely discarded at some point in the future. My writing style has changed so much over the years that I literally _cringe_ when I try to look over my old work. I'm glad you have enjoyed what I have posted, though.

* * *

Chapter 2  
Taking Comfort, Giving Comfort

Elena and I had spent nearly an hour dancing while I hummed our song. Then I decided it was time to build a roaring fire in the hearth in the foyer. Now I'm seated at one end of the loveseat facing the hearth. Elena is curled up next to me with her head resting in my lap. I've lost track of how long we've been like this, taking and giving comfort with each other's company.

I can tell that Elena's on the brink of falling asleep and I know that if I'm not careful, I'll be right behind her. Her presence has always been a comfort to me, even when my humanity switch was firmly in the "off" position. Something about her tames the monster inside of me and brings out the man I once was. I may have done some horrible things to the people she's known her whole life to get a rise out of her, but I would never have been able to bring myself to physically harm _her._ Even the night she betrayed my trust to go after the grimiore with my brother, I wouldn't have been able to go through with turning her against her will. Not after my brother forced me to finish my transition when I so badly wanted to die. There were _many_ other things I was _quite_ willing to do to get my point across, but the threat to turn her was a bluff.

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what it was that I saw in her eyes when she challenged me to compel the truth from her in order to win back my trust. But whatever it was, it made me reject the urge to compel her to be _mine_ and instead give her my trust just once more. I've kept a close eye on her to make sure her words and actions have lined up, but she's proven that she will never betray my trust in her again.

I start stroking my fingers through her hair. I hear her eyelashes flutter against her cheeks as she sighs in contentment. She's been wrapped in her own thoughts just as I have been. Elena will never know just how much I appreciate her ability to enjoy companionable silence. That's one of the many reasons I've fallen even more in love with her than I was obsessed with my sire. She represents so many good things in such a fragile package. I have to be _extremely_ careful with her so as not to hurt her.

"You know, your presence has always been soothing to me," I say, keeping my voice soft so as not to ruin the surprisingly intimate moment we're in.

"For all the horrible things you've done to people I've known my whole life, I don't know why it's so, but I can say the same about you," she murmurs.

"Oh?" I ask.

"I've never been afraid of _you,_ Damon. I've only rarely been afraid of the danger your chaotic personality represents to the people around me. Something deep inside of me has told me that you will never hurt me directly. You may hurt those around me to get to me, but something has always told me you would never lay a finger on me with true intent for harm," she explains. "Even that night you caught Stefan and me trying to retrieve Emily's grimiore without you, when you forced your blood on me and threatened to turn me, something inside of me told me that you would never have gone through with it, no matter how angry and hurt you were. Something told me that you would never take the choice from me, no matter what Stefan chose to do with the grimiore."

I stay silent for several minutes after that, debating whether I should share all. Finally, I decide that since I've never hidden important things from her before – other than the fact that Stefan and I are vampires – I shouldn't start now. I sigh. "The choice of whether to finish transition or not was taken from me by Stefan. He was so determined not to spend eternity alone and didn't give a damn what _I_ wanted at the time. Emily didn't tell me about the tomb until _after_ I was forced to complete transition. _She_ wasn't going to take that choice from me," I say softly. "Even in spite of finding out about the tomb, I held a massive grudge against my brother for so blatantly ignoring my decision not to finish transition up until the moment I saw you and realized you were human. The choice to become a vampire is one that has consequences lasting to the day you are killed permanently. That decision should _never_ be taken from another, no matter what your reasons may be for doing so. You're right in that I would not have gone through with turning you. But I had to make it clear to both you _and_ Stefan that betraying me has enormous consequences. While I may not have forced you into transition, there were other things I was _quite_ willing to do at the time to get my point across had he not complied to my demands to hand over the grimiore."

I glance down in time to see Elena open her eyes to stare into the flames as she thinks over what I said. "As I said, I hadn't wanted to lie to you about being able to trust him," she says. "But he put me in a situation where I felt my only options were to do so on my own or have him _compel_ me to do so. He was _that_ desperate to keep the grimiore from you. I have never been so _scared_ of someone in my life." She captures her lower lip between her teeth as she thinks. Eventually, she sighs. "Damon, I have a favor I'd like to ask of you."

"You're not one for asking favors of anyone," I say softly. "I'm _extremely_ curious what you want me to do so badly that you'd ask for a favor. I'm all ears."

"I want you to get me something else, some other kind of jewelry, to wear that I can put vervaine in to protect myself. This necklace Stefan gave me holds too many dark memories for me to feel comfortable wearing it anymore. And I don't want to ingest vervaine because what if you need blood to heal from something and I'm the only one who can help you because there's no blood bags around?"

"Like I said in Georgia, your blood is more potent to Stefan and me than you realize," I say softly. "More potent than the blood of anyone else in this world. I only agreed to drink it then because I wasn't willing to risk that guy coming back for more or any other vampire showing up and me being unable to protect you. The situation would have to be pretty damn dire for me to drink your blood again. It took every last ounce of self-control I built up over the years to pull away before I seriously hurt you." I sigh. "But I have a funny feeling you're going to insist on keeping your blood vervaine-free. And I _hate_ seeing you walk around the boarding house without that damn necklace around your neck. So I'm going to grant your favor, not only because of that, but also because I have something I've been wanting to give you. I had this feeling you wouldn't accept the gift before now." I reach into the inner pocket of my jacket where I've carried Mother's jewelry set all these years. I pull out the antique white velvet jewelry case. . "Before I give it to you, there are several things you should know about the jewelry set in this case."

"What?" she asks.

"First, the set once belonged to mine and Stefan's mother. She gave it to me just a handful of hours before she died giving birth to Stefan." She opens her mouth to protest but I keep her silent by covering it with my hand. "She told me that when I met the girl I would give this set to, I would know it. I never even _thought_ about giving it to Katherine. But from the moment I first laid eyes on you, I kept picturing you wearing it instead of that tawdry piece of junk Stefan gave you. I feel that she would want you to have it."

She sighs. "You said there are several things I should know about the set," she points out when I'm silent for several minutes. "What else should I know about it?"

"About a decade after I was forced to finish my transition, a witch came up to me in a tavern. She told me softly that she worked with the restless souls of those who had left things unfinished when they died. She told me that my mother had come to her in a dream and asked her to cast some enchantments on the jewelry set she had left me as well as pass on a message. That is the only reason I believed a word she had to say. No one but Stefan and I knew about the set Mother left me. And I'm sure _he_ had long forgotten it by the time we turned. I only showed it to him _once,_ when he was twelve and I was nineteen. I had him swear on our family name to tell _no one_ about it before I showed it to him. I knew from the minute Mother gave it to me that Father would _never_ have let me keep it had he known it was in my possession, even if it _was_ Mother's final wish that I have it. Anyways, I let the witch take me to a private room so she could further explain what Mother had told her. She first gave me the rather cryptic message. She also told me that the set was actually several centuries old and had long ago been enchanted against all forms of damage. Then she explained the enchantments my mother had insisted be placed on the set. I wasn't very happy about one of them but I couldn't very well argue with the dead. Particularly when it was my Mother who I would be arguing with." I reach a hand into my shirt and pull out the pendant that goes with the set I want to give her. It's a white-gold three-dimensional heart with sterling silver inlay hanging from a platinum chain. "This is one of the four pieces of jewelry that make up the set Mother gave me," I say. "The others are a pair of earrings and a locket that match this pendant. The earrings and locket are yours to wear. Once you put them on, only you and I will be able to even _touch_ any of the four pieces. At least this way, no one will _ever_ be able to snatch your protection against vampire mind games from you. The second enchantment the witch placed on the set is that we can use the locket and this pendant to locate each other if we become separated. It's easiest to do it by holding the locket or pendant over a map and concentrating on each other. But, in the instance that there are no maps readily available, we can use them as a sort of compass by concentrating on each other. You are _never_ to take your part of the set off, Elena." I sigh, turning my face away from hers. I know this alerts her that the enchantment I'm about to tell her about is the one I was most upset about. "The final enchantment that the witch placed is that once you put that jewelry on and I'm wearing the pendant, the jewelry will form a kind of empathy link between us. We will each be able to know _exactly_ what the other is feeling emotionally at any given time. We may not know the reason _behind_ the emotion, but we will be able to sense each other's emotions. As I've never been one to share my emotions with others so freely, I wasn't too pleased about that enchantment when it was placed. But I have to admit that I was more than a little surprised to find that I actually wouldn't mind sharing an empathy link with you."

She sucks in a sharp breath at my admittance. Those words tell her that I care about her a great deal more than I had let her believe prior to this point. "I don't know what I've done to make you trust me so damn much that you'd be willing to share your emotions with me in such an _intimate_ way," she says softly. "I'm not sure if I'm grateful or terrified that you feel you can trust me with knowing _exactly_ what you're feeling at any given moment. I've never had someone place _that_ much trust in me before and it's more than a little overwhelming. And the fact that it's _you_ who trusts me so much is even _more_ mind-boggling because I know damn well how hard you fight to make it appear like you care about no one but yourself, _trust_ no one but yourself. It's terrifying that someone who has every reason to doubt the world around him trusts _me_ enough to form an empathy link with me. But at the same time, it's gratifying that you feel I'm _worthy_ of that much trust. I don't feel like I've done anything particularly deserving of such a gift. In fact, I know that I've done many things that should have given you the exact _opposite_ reaction."

I chuckle. "Elena, you're a good person. You're kind, you're thoughtful, and you place the whole damn world before yourself. You do whatever it takes to try to protect those you care about, even if it means risking death yourself. You try your damnedest to find something good in everyone around you and when you think you've found something that's the least bit redeeming about someone, you bust your ass trying to save that person from the dark path they are walking. Hell, you even make _me_ want to be the better man when for the past hundred-and-forty-five years I've done my damnedest to become irredeemable. You are as honest as you possibly can be. You're so damn loyal that it's actually one of your faults rather than the good thing it should be. When something you do to protect someone has negative consequences elsewhere, you blame yourself because you think that if you had done such-and-such differently, things wouldn't have gone wrong. Hate to break it to you, Elena, but on some things, the choice you made actually had _much_ better results than the choice you _didn't_ make would have had. That is one of your biggest faults. And I'm determined to break you from that way of thinking. You're the most amazing person I have ever had the honor of meeting. But even you have your faults. In your case, the faults are taking traits that would otherwise be good so far that they are actually damaging. Now, I want you to accept my Mother's jewelry as my gift to you. The earrings and the locket already have some dried vervaine in them."

She sighs. "I take it you're going to insist," she says softly.

"I am," I say.

"Then I have no choice but to accept," she concedes. She carefully sits up so she can take the box from my hand. She opens the box and blatantly admires it for several minutes. Just when my patience starts to wear thin, she takes the necklace from its bed and holds it out to me. "Help me with this, would you?" she asks.

"With pleasure," I tell her, taking the necklace from her.

She turns her back to me and lifts her hair out of the way so I can fasten the necklace in place around her neck. I use this as an excuse to stroke her skin a _lot_ more than necessary. She doesn't say a word because she knows damn well I'll do whatever _I_ want no matter what anyone else wants me to do. Once I've caressed her neck as much as I can possibly get by with, I fasten the clasp and pull my hands away. She turns to face me again as she fastens the earrings in place.

As soon as the second earring is fastened to her left ear, we are both hit with an 'echo' of the other's emotions. Elena reels in her seat. I had warned her that vampire emotions are a lot more powerful than human emotions, but I have a feeling she hadn't realized the full extent of that difference before now. She stares at me in awe. I merely smirk at her and raise an eyebrow, silently challenging her to figure out what each of my emotions are. I know damn well that she has never backed down from a challenge before and will refuse to start now. She takes a steadying breath and closes her eyes. I'm startled by the sensation of what she does to try to get a grip on my emotions. It's almost like she throws herself into a river, only that river is my emotional current and she's only thrown her spirit into it. I'm experiencing this both as myself and as an echo of her emotions; which are changing to recreate my emotions in a form that she can understand, albeit on a smaller scale. She immediately picks up on my surprise at her method. In the analogy of Elena having thrown herself in a river that is actually my emotional current, next comes choppy 'water' to represent my worry for her safety, for my brother, and in regards to the silence that has come from the tomb vampires for several days now. I know damn well that they wouldn't have given up on getting revenge on this town for them spending the majority of the last century and a half desiccating in a tomb. So if they're not doing something we can see, they're plotting to do something _big._

I push those thoughts to the side and allow myself to enjoy this highly intimate experience I'm having with Elena. This is actually a _lot_ more intimate than simply making love to her would have been. More intimate than that unless we happened to have been wearing Mother's jewelry in the scenario I mentioned. I quickly push those thoughts to the side before she can get a sense of them. Next in the 'river' is a long swath of peaceful 'water', representing the comfort and security I feel every time I'm near enough to her to sense her presence. That's all well and good, but for some reason, Elena's just letting _my_ emotional current lead the way. Considering the fact that I always feel like being lazy and getting nothing done when I'm around her, it's taking too damn long for her to 'float' her way out of that patch of my emotions. My impatience causes the 'current' to pick up in pace as well as adds 'turbulence'. Unfortunately, the next stop is my thirst for blood. As it does with me, I can sense that it's leaving her throat feeling arid with a bitter taste. She opens her eyes and stares at me.

"Thirst," I explain. "A vampire's thirst for blood is tied to our emotions as well as our body. A vampire becoming overly emotional can have some pretty dire consequences. Today was jam-packed with emotions for me. So I'm rather thirsty."

She frowns at me. "Go get a blood bag then," she orders.

I just chuckle. "I can hold off a while longer. I'm rather enjoying the experience of watching and _feeling_ your method of understanding my emotions," I reply.

She sighs. She knows damn well that I would never take chances with _that_ part of me, especially not around her. She knows that I mean what I said about being able to hold off. She closes her eyes again and lets my emotions sweep her back into the 'current'. I admire the effect of the firelight flickering over her face. I'm startled to realize that her method of delving into my emotions is actually the result of a self-induced trance. I find myself falling even more in love with her. But even though she is terminating her relationship with my brother, that doesn't mean she wants to take _our_ relationship to a higher level. I feel my inner vampire crying out to claim her, turn her, and mark her as _mine_ for eternity. I had never realized just how dangerous loving someone could be before I met Elena the night her parents died. I close my eyes and force my fangs back out of sight. I need to get some blood. I rise up from the loveseat and vamp downstairs to the deep fridge filled with stolen blood bags. I grab one labeled O-positive, which is Elena's blood type. I rip the valve off and, without bothering for a glass or even to heat it up, I drink it straight from the bag, using the tube as a straw. Once it's empty, I dispose of both blood bag and valve in a black trash bag we keep down here.

I glance at my watch and realize that it's after midnight. I remember that Elena hasn't eaten since sometime around noon. I vamp to the kitchen, deciding I'll be a gracious host and fix us both some human food. I always have to grin at having to make that distinction. I quickly decide on cooking steamed vegetables, a spicy stir fry, and home-style baked macaroni and cheese.

It's only when I've got the dishes actually _cooking_ that Elena finally rouses from her trance. I frown when I realize that I don't actually recall what emotion of mine she had been trying to place. I wipe the frown from my face as she walks in the kitchen. "I figured you'd be hungry by now," I say, half-turning to wink at her before turning back to the pans on the stove. "I happen to be a pretty good cook so I figured I'd make you something to eat."

"The only ones who live here are vampires, who don't _need_ human food," she says slowly, making her way forward to sit at one of the two place settings I had set up on the island counter. "The most I had even dared hope for was some bags of chips."

"Before Mother died giving birth to Stefan, she had instilled in me a love of the culinary arts, along with numerous other types of art as well," I reply to her unvoiced question. . "Only a handful of years after I was forced to complete my transition, I started losing interest in the goings on around me. I decided that if I weren't going to take off my ring in a nice sunny spot out of sheer boredom, I needed to pick out an eternal hobby. Once I realized that my sense of taste had been heightened just as much as everything else upon transitioning into a vampire, I decided cooking would be my eternal hobby. Another reason I chose it was because it's a way of honoring my mother's memory. She was a whiz in the kitchen. And I was the only one who was given the honor of learning her personal recipes." I half-turn to throw a quick smirk at her. "As I said in Georgia, on a healthy diet of blood, my body functions pretty normally." I turn back to the food cooking on the stove. "Stefan refuses to learn to control his inner vampire. His diet of animal blood has driven it completely mad. You should know that he has only managed to last a decade, tops, on that repulsive diet before something happened to get the taste or scent of fresh human blood to his senses. He then loses all control and goes on a murder-spree, killing his victims so horrendously in his effort to get every last drop of blood in their system that even _I_ am horrified by such brutality." I roll my eyes because Stefan's growling at me to shut up. "And, Stefan, _you_ shut up. She has _every_ right to know what you're like. I'm not telling her details, but I could."

"You're just trying to win brownie points by telling her this," he growls.

"Believe whatever you want, brother. Just remember, _I'm_ not the one who has lost even her friendship because of a complete inability to tell the damn truth. I've always been as honest as I could be with her. You heard damn well what we've been talking about up here. She can't even stand to wear that piece of junk you gave her to protect her against vampires. She's _so_ thoroughly disgusted by your lies that she asked _me_ to give her something to replace it. Now this conversation is _through._ I _don't_ want to burn the meal I'm preparing for Elena." Throughout the conversation with my brother, a sense of triumph fills me. Stefan has been forced to face the price of constantly lying to someone who values honesty in a relationship above all else. "Anyways, Elena, back to what I was saying. Stefan can _barely_ tolerate human food because, let's face it, his diet _isn't_ healthy for his inner vampire. That's why, after we've dealt with those pesky tomb vampires, I plan on putting him through an intensive crash course in self-control and reigning in his inner vampire. While I would _love_ to let you send him packing once we've gotten him off the human blood, I can't leave him on animal blood because he'll just fall off the diet again and _again._ That pattern is going to end up with him _dead,_ killed either by our own kind for risking exposing us all to the human race or by humans in pretty much the same manner that this town had _tried_ to do to those tomb vampires in 1864. Speaking of which, I'm rather worried that we haven't heard anything from them since what they did to Stefan. They wouldn't have given up _that_ easily. No, they're plotting something _big._" I switch the oven from bake to broil when I smell that the macaroni and cheese is nearly ready. It needs that nice golden crust that is the signature of any _good_ home-style baked macaroni and cheese. "At the moment, all we have to drink that's good for humans is sweet tea. I brewed it myself. I'll have you know that I have perfected the art of making southern-style sweet iced tea." I turn off the burners after determining that the stir fry _and_ the steamed vegetables are cooked to perfection. I frown when I realize Elena's not said one word in quite some time. I glance at her and sigh upon realizing that I might as well have been talking to myself for all she heard me. She's completely lost in her thoughts and is actually _very_ close to falling back into a trance-state like the one she had used to delve into my emotions. I turn the oven off and use a potholder to get the macaroni and cheese out. I serve us each a plateful of the three dishes I cooked. "Elena," I speak a little louder than I had been in an attempt to break through to her. I know my amusement can be heard in my voice. My pendant echoes her startled return to awareness "You really need to stop getting lost in thought. Or at least warn a person before you do so. You didn't hear a word I said just now, did you?"

I look at her in time to catch her blushing in embarrassment. "Sorry," she tells me. "I find I'm doing that a lot lately. What were you saying?"

I chuckle. "I said _many_ things before I realized you had zoned out on me," I reply. "Some of which aren't important right now. But I _am_ curious where you learned how to put yourself into a trance-state like the one you used to read my emotions. You were coming _very_ close to falling back into such a state just now." I slide one of the plates of food in front of her and the other in front of the seat I will be sitting in. "Bon appétit," I tell her. I quickly grab a couple of glasses from the cabinet and the pitcher of tea from the fridge. I pour each of us a glass and return the pitcher to the fridge. I then take my seat and start digging in.

Elena picks up her spoon. "About five years ago, Mom and Dad located a rather unorthodox martial artist who was willing to train Jeremy and me in self-defense. He claimed that we were too old to learn _everything_ he knew," she says. "We'd have had to start training from the time we were toddlers to be able to master it _all._ But he agreed to teach us a number of useful tricks to protect ourselves. He taught us how to force ourselves into a trance-state as a form of extreme meditation. It's been useful for many things besides just finding 'inner peace'. About six months before the crash that killed my parents, he said that we were well on our way of mastering the things he was able to teach us. He said that the rest of the journey to mastering what he was training us in could only be done on our own. He … I think he had a touch of the gift of prophecy because he took me off for a one-on-one training session just a few days before he left Mystic Falls. While he was training me, he talked to me about many things to watch out for in the near future. He wouldn't explain what he was talking about, only that I would know for myself when it came to pass. He told me that at times, he gets strong feelings about the future of another and that those feelings have been disturbingly accurate every single time. He told me that over the course of training me in particular, that sense he has was becoming increasingly stronger. He told me that he had decided to tell me what his sense was warning him about my future that day because the strength had become so powerful he claimed it was on par with getting hit by a bus. Which he admitted to having occurred to him at one point in his life. He would never tell any of us his name. Jeremy and I were only to call him 'Master' while we were his students. He was _very_ secretive about his person life and the detail about him getting hit by a bus once is the only thing I know about his past. He made a lot of references to 'taming a crow' and 'a wolf disguising itself as a sheep' when he was explaining what his sense was telling him. I took care to write down everything he told me that day in my journal entry that night. Even now, when I think I finally understand what he was actually referring to with those two phrases, some parts of the prophesy still elude me. And some parts I don't even want to think about because I had nightmares for weeks after hearing it all." She smiles slightly at a memory. "And just when I was about ready to have a panic attack from it all, he physically threw me into the river we were walking the bank of. He told me that I must either learn to swim through my trials as if they were the river he threw me in or I will sink below the surface chained to a boulder because of them. When I made it back to the shore, he handed me a diamond that looked like it was of high quality and a rose quartz that had several noticeable flaws. Both were uncut. He told me to examine them _closely_ and I'd be surprised by my findings. He even provided a gem-cutter's magnifying glass for me to use. As I examined them, he told me that one gem represented the crow and the other the wolf." She shakes her head. "It took me a while to realize what he meant by being surprised. Where I thought that surely the flaws in the quartz would be irreparable, I found that they were only on the surface. A little care and attention to detail while cutting it would completely rid it of those deceptive flaws."

"And the diamond?" I ask softly.

"The diamond had only _appeared_ to be of high quality," she tells me. "When I put it under the gem-cutter's magnifying glass, I discovered so many _hidden_ flaws that I realized that it would completely shatter if I tried to have it cut. Master told me I could have only one of the gems to keep. I gave him back the diamond. The quartz was actually worth a _lot_ more. I still have the quartz tucked away in my room. I never got it cut because, to be honest, I love the lesson it represents: something may look faulty and worthless at first glance but enough care and attention to detail can make it worth _much_ more than the _truly_ faulty stone trying to pass itself off as a perfect diamond. " She smirks at me. "Ever since that day, I've found that I much prefer quartz to diamonds. Maybe one day I'll have the quartz cut and set into a piece of jewelry, but I'm going to make a firm request that the flaws be left in place. If I can't find a jeweler who will fulfill my request, I'm going to leave it uncut. I like the flaws because they give the quartz a lot more personality and hidden potential than if they were gone." After that, we eat our rapidly cooling meals in silence. I become lost in thought over the significance of what she had revealed. When she finishes, she puts her silverware and plate in the sink. "You know, you and Stefan remind me of the lesson Master taught me with the quartz and the diamond," she tells me.

"Which gem represents me?" I ask.

"You remind me of the quartz. You have a lot of noticeable flaws on the surface. But I've found that, like the quartz, beneath those flaws is something worth a whole lot more than the diamond that represents Stefan," she says. "And, like the quartz, I discovered I'd rather you kept those quirks." She interrupts herself with a huge yawn. "Well, I've had a long day that was probably just as full of emotional turmoil as yours. So I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna take the set of rooms next to yours. G'nite, Damon."

She leaves the room, leaving me stunned speechless by her words. I frown as I think over what she revealed of her mysterious 'Master'. The references to a crow and a wolf are extremely uncanny. I decide that I'm going to have to look up that journal entry she referenced and get the full scoop on the prophecy.

My mind made up, I transfer the leftovers to containers and store them in the fridge. Then I proceed to wash the dishes we used.

**Stefan**

The physical pain from the vervaine is _nothing_ compared to the emotional turmoil I'm in from being compared to that diamond that would shatter if someone attempted to have it cut. I close my eyes and let my tears fall freely. I'm the wolf disguising himself as a sheep in her Master's prophecy for her while Damon's the crow she is taming. There's no other way about it.


	3. Master' & Bonding

By the Light of the Moon  
DG32173

Sarah: here's chapter three of _By the Light of the Moon._ I hope everyone enjoys!

_**REVIEW REPLIES**_

_YAZMIN V:_ yes, Damon _is_ very intelligent. His thoughts about the references to a crow and a wolf being uncanny will be further explained over time. So glad you enjoyed last chapter.

_jairem:_ as you probably saw in the corresponding chapter in _Moonlit Seduction,_ 'Master' is actually a vampire we all know. But I'm not revealing _precisely_ who he was for some time to come. And Stefan's part of last chapter made me feel sorry for him as well. The wolf and crow references as well as Elena comparing the boys to the gems were two of my favorite parts to write of last chapter. I hope you continue to enjoy what I write.

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Chapter 3  
'Master' and Bonding

I sigh as I watch Stefan's back. "You know you'll desiccate without the blood," I tell him. "Sure, it may _seem_ like the better option right now, but then who's going to help me take down the tomb vampires? They're a big threat to everyone in this town, _including_ Elena. Sure, she broke up with you. But you really only have yourself to blame. A little honesty can go a long ways, brother." He continues to ignore me. "Yeah, well, ignore me all you want. But, one way or another, you are going to get back on the animal diet long enough to help me take those guys down. Then I'm going to take you through an intensive rehab to get you in _proper_ control of your inner vampire."

Elena must sense the frustration that's building up in me because she sends a gentle wave of encouragement through the empathy link formed by our jewelry. I send back a bit of gratitude for her support but also give her a taste of my urge to rip my brother a new one for his stubbornness. I hear her chuckle upstairs as well as get the emotional equivalent of a warning to _try_ to be sympathetic. I send her the emotional equivalent of me scoffing at the idea of _me_ being the remotest bit sympathetic. I can almost see her eye roll and head shake. But I also feel the echo of her amusement that tells me she's grinning.

It's been two full days since I gave her Mother's locket and earrings. In that time we've had countless silent conversations with just our emotions. We've also discovered that, if we concentrate, we can send mental images to the other as well. But our two attempts to send actual _thoughts_ ended up with both of us flat on our backs with killer migraines. So we agreed to never try that again.

I make up a mental image of her seated in that window seat in the room she took over and opening her journal as viewed from the door leading to the hall. I send that image to her. She sends a wave of exasperation. I send the image again. "Okay, okay," she groans, knowing I'll hear. "I'm opening the journal."

I hear the soft creak of well-worn leather and turn my attention back to Stefan. "So, do I _really_ have to steal an IV ensemble from the hospital and get the animal blood into you _that_ way?" I demand. No answer. "Seriously, Stefan. You know as well as I do that I'm not going to let you desiccate because you want to have a pity party. And don't even _try_ to deny that you're having a pity party. I can sense the self-pity emanating off of you from here." Still no answer. "I'm giving you one more day to start drinking blood again on your own before I start treating you like a baby that doesn't know how to feed himself."

With that, I head back upstairs. I go straight to the bar and pour myself a glass of bourbon. I massage my forehead as I sip at it. _Normally,_ vampires are immune to things like headaches. But between Stefan's refusal to drink blood, the rising intensity in the secret council meetings, and the mixed signals coming from Elena these days, I'm damn sure that I'm in for a monster headache if _something_ doesn't let up soon. Right as I finish my glass of bourbon, I realize that Elena's echoing pure panic at me through our jewelry. I send a wave of worry at her.

"Damon, you should get up here," she says, her voice shaking uncontrollably.

In less than the blink of an eye, I'm kneeling on the floor next to her. Her body is shaking just as much as her voice did. "What is it, Elena?" I ask, knowing my worry is evident in my eyes.

"I don't think you and Stefan were the first vampires in my life," she says softly.

I freeze as only a vampire can, becoming as motionless as a statue. "What do you mean?" I ask. She merely passes her old journal to me and points at the journal entry wordlessly.

I take the journal and read the entry she had pointed to.

_June 30, 2008_

_Dear Diary,_

_I've been noticing some strange things about Master lately. I've been having a real bout of clumsiness lately, often ending up with cuts and scrapes. Like today, I was skating home on my rollerblades. I didn't notice that the pothole at the corner of the street had grown until it was too late. I landed on my hands and knees, scraping my palms and shins to the point of bleeding. I took my blades off and walked the rest of the way home. When I came through the front door, I noticed that Master was playing chess with Jeremy. He has this saying about a healthy body and a healthy mind equaling a healthy life, or something like that._

_Anyways, he looked up from his game with Jer and as soon as he saw the blood on my hands and legs, his nostrils flared and his eyes started changing. He quickly closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his teeth before telling me to get cleaned up before my wounds got infected. He sounded really tense when he said it. I could have __sworn__ that just before he closed his eyes, the whites had started dying blood red. But that's crazy, right? Anyways, he left while I was getting cleaned up. Jer said that Master had postponed their game until tomorrow, saying that something had come up that couldn't be delayed. Master has this strange way of speaking. He's always so formal and his wording is as if he's from another time._

I only get that far before a vicious blue streak falls from my lips with such intensity that Elena's jaw drops faster than a stone. When I can't think of anything else to say without repeating myself, I shake my head. "What can you tell me about your Master?" I demand. "Physical descriptions, the way he spoke, anything."

"He stood about five foot eleven. He was thin but very muscular. He had brown hair and dark brown eyes. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties. His face was angular with high cheekbones, a strong jawline, and a straight nose," she says, closing her eyes. She obviously brought up a mental image of her Master as she last saw him because it appears in my mind. "He was _always_ impeccably well-dressed, even when training Jer and me. I don't think I've ever seen him dressed in anything that could be _remotely_ considered casual. As for how he talked … he talked like he was a nobleman from the middle ages. Just before he left, he told Jer and me that we will see him again one day."

"Did he ever tell you how he got hit by a bus?" I ask, remembering the detail she let drop the other night.

She nods. "He said that a little girl had chased a ball out into the road in the path of the bus. He managed to push her out of the way at the last second but got hit by the bus himself," she replies. She sighs. "That wasn't the only entry in that journal that mentioned Master exhibiting the traits of a vampire." She takes the journal from my hand and flips it back several pages before passing it to me again. "This one mentions Master displaying an inhuman amount of speed and maneuverability as he avoided getting hit by a stray arrow when he was training me in archery. Jeremy had startled me by speaking up behind me just as I loosed the arrow. It went wide of the bull's eye Master had hung on a tree, heading straight for Master. But he _dodged_ it. I was using a powerful longbow he had given me. That arrow was going pretty damn fast. _Too_ damn fast for a human to have dodged. I didn't even see Master move."

I quickly read that journal entry, my lips pressed together in a grim line.

_June 11, 2008_

_Dear Diary,_

_Something spooky happened today when I was training my archery skills with Master. Jeremy had somehow snuck up on us without me realizing it because he spoke up behind me right as I loosed an arrow. It went wide of the bull's eye that Master had hung from a tree branch. In fact, it went so far off mark that the arrow was aiming straight for Master! I was terrified. I was so sure I was about to watch Master get an arrow embedded in his chest, possibly even his heart! But then the spooky thing happened. One second Master was in the direct path of the arrow, I blinked, and he was suddenly several feet from where he had been and the arrow had buried itself in a tree. Things have been getting stranger and stranger where Master's concerned. I have a feeling there's a whole lot more Master's hiding from us than just his name. I have a funny feeling that there's something unnatural about him. I just don't know what._

_Elena_

I sigh and pass the journal back to Elena. . "You need to find the entry that holds the prophecy he gave you," I tell her. "I've never heard of a vampire having the gift of prophecy. I have a feeling we may need to figure out this prophecy. I'm gonna go grab us a couple bottles of bourbon. I have a feeling we may need it before the night is through."

"Okay," she says, turning her attention back to her journal.

I vamp to my room to delve into my private stash of bourbon. It's the highest quality bourbon in the whole house. But as I'm perusing my options, I hear Elena put her journal down next door and get off the window seat.

I frown and vamp to her doorway to find out what she's doing. She's looking through the songs on her IPod. Suddenly, she smiles and hits play and repeat on one of the songs. I immediately recognize the song _"Get Off My Back"_ from the movie _Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron._

I'll admit that she succeeds in startling me when she starts singing and dancing to the song.

"_Well you think that you can take me on  
You must be crazy  
There ain't a single thing you've done  
That's gonna phase me  
Oh, but if you want to have a go  
I just want to let you know_

"_Get off my back and into my game  
Get out of my way and out of my brain  
Get outta my face or give it your best shot  
I think it's time you better face the fact  
Get off my back"_

I decide to join in the singing and dancing. I feel her surprise when I add my voice to the song. She snaps her eyes open and I smirk at her. She waves me over to dance with her. I immediately comply by vamping over and dancing right up against her as we continue singing.

"_You know it's all just a game that I'm playing  
Don't think that that you can't find a way in  
That's all I'm saying  
Oh, if you want to have a go  
I just want to let you know_

"_Get off my back and into my game  
Get out of my way and out of my brain  
Get outta my face or give it your best shot  
I think it's time you better face the fact  
Get off my back_

"_Oh, if you want to have a go  
I just want to let you know_

"_Get off  
Get off  
Yeah, get off my back and into my game  
Get out of my way and out of my brain  
Get outta my face or give it your best shot  
You know this train is coming of this track  
Get off my back._

"_Yeah, get off my back  
Get off  
_

"_Get off  
Get off  
Get off  
Get off  
Get off my back!"_

We collapse against each other, both of us laughing so hard that we have tears in our eyes. We keep laughing for quite some time because just as one of us is about to sober up, the other is hit with the giggles and we're both laughing again. "Stop making me laugh," she gasps out between giggles.

"Stop making _you_ laugh? _You_ stop making _me_ laugh!" I retort amid my laughter.

It takes nearly half an hour for us to both calm down. By then, we're relaxing next to each other on her canopy bed. "I didn't know you could sing," she tells me.

"I've always been able to carry a tune, even before I became a vampire. But to be honest, _any_ vampire can sing if they so wanted to. Perfect vocal control and all that," I reply.

"I bet you've used _that_ ability to amuse yourself plenty of times," she replies.

"You're damn right I have," I retort. "Anyways, what made you decide to sing and dance all of a sudden?"

"I just had this urge to listen to the song after I found it mentioned in that journal," she tells me. "And once it started playing, the music took over and I was singing and dancing before I realized it."

"You have a damn good voice for a human," I tell her. "Ever considered taking up a career in music?"

She shakes her head. "Nah," she tells me. "I was more interested in acting than music. Song and dance was just a hobby. I got put in a drama class in seventh grade and I was hooked. I was in drama classes every year since up until this year." She sighs. "After my parents died, I couldn't bring myself to get up the drive to continue the classes. I dropped a lot of things that I used to do. Stefan may have saved my _life_ that night, but a large part of me died alongside my parents. I'm only now getting parts of the girl I was back. But there are many things I have just lost the drive to do. Such as acting. I'm doing enough of that now that I don't need to do it professionally. And cheerleading had always been something I did to please my mom. I've spent my whole life trying to please everyone _but_ me. I was usually downright miserable. And the one night I did something to make _me_ happy, my life goes from simple misery to pure hell. But I can't dwell on what life would be like if I had done things differently. That's a road that only goes in circles with nothing ever getting done. The past is the past. I just gotta suck it up and learn from it so I don't repeat those mistakes."

"So, where are you going to go from here?" I ask.

"I thought that my mistake that night had been in choosing to live for _me_ for just one night," she replies. "So I went back to the whole 'good girl' routine. But I'm sick and tired of always doing what everyone expects of me. If I'm ever going to get anywhere in life, I need to start living my life for myself. I need to stop keeping myself completely off the list of what matters most in my life. I need to figure out what I want in life. I need to figure out what my priorities _should_ be rather than letting others decide that for me. If my parents are ever going to rest in peace, or as much peace as they'll be in with Jer and I choosing to keep the supernatural aspect of the world in our lives, then I need to start picking up the pieces of my life and finally learn how to make my own decisions rather than doing what others decide that I should do. I'll never forget them or anything they taught me. But I need to let go of them. Nothing is ever going to bring them back to me. Even if it were possible for a witch to raise them from the dead, I wouldn't ask it of one. Vampires are one thing. True necromancy is something else entirely. So I have to let go and move on with my life. I can't dwell on every mistake I've made in my life. That's not living. That's not even _existing._ That's just wasting away and hurting everyone who cares about me. That's doing what Stefan does. He can't let go of the mistake's he's made nor the mistakes you've made. _Everyone_ makes mistakes in their life. No one is perfect. Holding every little mistake someone has made over their head forever is just being petty. People change as time goes on. Even vampires can change. You're proof of that. When you first came to this town, you were an absolute asshole who cared about no one but himself. But you've changed these past few months. The night you offered to compel away Jeremy's memories of how Vicki died was the first sign of that change. Then you saved me when that vampire made me crash to turn me into a snack. You got me out of my car, made sure I was okay, and then took me to Georgia to get me away from all my troubles for 'just five minutes'." I chuckle at that. "That was an even bigger sign that you were changing. I truly hadn't wanted to break your trust about trusting Stefan over the grimiore. I fought like hell with him about it up until he grabbed the necklace and half-strangled me with it in his desperation to get me to promise to lie to you." She closes her eyes. I suddenly get hit by a massive wave of terror and I realize she's remembering how she had felt during those few moments. I suck in a sharp breath at the intensity of it. "I have never been more scared of someone than I was of Stefan in that moment. So I made a promise I should not have upheld. But I was terrified of what he'd do if I had broken that promise." She sighs. "Anyways, I've seen so many examples of you becoming a better person, so many signs that the man is coming out of the monster. I can't even begin to list them all. You're a better man than you were, Damon. I know you think that's because of me, but _I_ think you just needed a reason to _care._ That I happen to be that reason must be some cosmic joke considering I look like the one who turned you _into_ the monster."

"There _is_ a physical difference between you and Katherine," I interrupt.

She opens her eyes and turns to look at me. "Oh?" she asks.

"Apparently, my brother failed to mention it," I remark dryly. "Your birthmark." She smacks me. "Ow! What was that for?" I demand, rubbing my arm. Dammit, that stung!

"Some gentleman you are!" she snaps. We both know the only way I'd know about her birthmark is if I've seen her naked. It's on her left hip.

"_I_ can't help it if you leave your window wide open and unlocked when you're changing!" I protest. "You should know better considering there's a vampire in town that happens to prefer using your window to get into your house rather than the front door."

She groans and smacks me again. "You're _supposed_ to be a gentleman," she tells me. "You were born in an era where good manners were the standard."

"I never really _had_ good manners, not even as a human," I retort. "I was constantly slipping in and out of women's rooms, whether they invited me there or not."

She sighs. "You're incorrigible," she tells me.

"And here you were just telling me that I _have_ changed," I point out.

"On _some_ things you have," she shoots back, though she's grinning as she says it. We both enjoy our verbal sparring matches though she tries to pretend they piss her off. "But on the subject of manners, you've probably been a complete caveman since the day you were brought into this world."

I chuckle. "I wouldn't say _caveman,"_ I say. "I'm not _that_ old."

"Considering the fact no one's ever told me how old you are, I wouldn't know, now would I?" she teases.

"I was born June 28, 1840," I reply. I know damn well my eyes are twinkling with my merriment "I was twenty-four when I transitioned into a vampire."

She smirks. "I _knew_ you weren't even twenty-five when you were turned," she tells me. Then she sighs. "I should get back to reading over my old journal entries. We still need to know more about that prophecy."

"Look tomorrow," I tell her. "The fact that the mere mention of a song in a journal entry distracted you to the point of singing and dancing to that song tells me that you need to take a break. Besides, it's after midnight."

"It is?" she gasps, looking at her watch to see that I'm right. "How'd it get so late?"

"Time flies when you are distracted by something or someone," I reply, winking at her. "Now, I'll leave you to get some sleep. We'll talk more in the morning."

As I move to get up, though, her hand lashes out to wrap around my wrist. "Stay?" she asks softly.

I mercilessly crush the hope that threatens to sprout up at her request. She doesn't know what she's asking. "I shouldn't," I say tersely, though I can't make my body move.

"Just tonight?" she pleads. "I … I don't want to be alone."

I turn my head, close my eyes, and breathe in deeply through my teeth. I know she doesn't mean it the way I wish she did. God, but how much I wish it was more than just friendship she wants from me. She's sending mixed signals, this one. She hasn't made the least indication that she'd even _consider_ being with me romantically but now she's asking me to spend the night in her bed in a purely platonic fashion. Finally, I sigh as I decide I'll take what I can get. "Let me turn off the light and your IPod," I say softly.

"Damon," she starts, and I feel an echo of her rising panic.

"I'll be right back," I assure her, meeting her eyes. "But just tonight."

She searches my eyes desperately before nodding and releasing my wrist. I vamp over to the window seat to turn off her IPod, which has been playing that song on repeat. Then I vamp to the doorway to flick off the overhead. I briefly consider making a break for my room, but that would be breaking my word to her. I have never lied to her or broken a promise I made to her. I'm not going to start now. Besides, I might never get another chance at be _asked_ to spend the night in her bed with her, even if it is in a purely platonic fashion.

I vamp back onto the bed next to her. I stiffen when she curls up right up next to me, resting her head on my chest and wrapping her arm around my waist. This is a horrible set of mixed signals she's sending now. But I don't pull away. "Goodnight, Damon," she says softly.

"Goodnight, Elena," I reply just as softly. She quickly falls asleep. But I'm left having a hellacious fight with my inner vampire _and_ my libido. Thank God she's fast asleep before the fight becomes intense enough for her to sense through our jewelry were she awake. I take a risk and wrap my arm around her, holding her tightly against me. That eases my inner struggle enough for me to fall asleep as well. But just before sleep claims me completely, I promise myself that I'm not going to let there be a repeat of this night unless she is already my girlfriend at the time. Too bad even I know that Elena has me wrapped around her little finger and I'm helpless to resist her requests unless they happen to put her life in danger.

**Stefan**

I close my eyes, feeling tears slide down my cheeks. I've cried more in the past two days than I have in all the years since I was human. Damon and Elena are getting so close, their bond growing even _more_ powerful every second. I always knew that things between them wouldn't stagnate for long, especially not if I was somehow taken out of the picture. But _knowing_ this would happen and actually _hearing_ it happen are two entirely different things. In many ways, listening to their bond grow stronger is a million times worse than the vervaine wreaking havoc on my system and starving myself of the blood I need to get rid of it. I don't know how much more of this I can take.


	4. Not a Teddy Bear

By the Light of the Moon  
DG32173

Sarah: and chapter 4 is here! I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 4  
Not a Teddy Bear

I smile slightly as I stroke my fingers through Elena's hair. The only way this scene could possibly be better is if we were both naked. She's curled up against my side, slowly waking up. Her head is resting on my chest, her face buried into my shirt in such a way that I'm more than a little surprised that she's able to breathe. Her arm is still wrapped around my waist. I close my eyes and give myself the brief opportunity to luxuriate in the moment. I know it won't last. Suddenly, she snuggles as close to me as physically possible. I stiffen and my hand in her hair freezes. She lets out a little whimper in protest of my reaction.

I sigh. As much as I hate to cut the moment short, there are things we need to do today. "Elena, we need to get up," I say.

"No," she grumbles sleepily.

I try to pry myself out of her grasp but she foils that by rolling on top of me. "Elena, you need to get off me," I say, a clear warning in my voice. She ignores the warning and clings to me with all four limbs. She has my arms pinned to my sides with her arms. If I'm not careful in my attempt to get free, I could seriously hurt her. That is not something I want to risk. "You know, this could send entirely the wrong impression to anyone who happens to walk in here," I tell her. She ignores me and proceeds to succumb to sleep again. Suddenly, the image of my head on top of a teddy bear pops in my mind and I _know_ that she's visualizing that. I grit my teeth. "Elena, let me up or you might not like the consequences." She ignores me. I sigh. "I warned you," I say.

In less than the blink of an eye, I manage to turn the tables on her and have her pinned under me, holding her hands above her head with one hand on her wrists and my legs straddling her hips. She snaps her eyes open. "Damon, what are you –mrph!" she starts, but I cut her off by lowering my head and capturing her lips with mine. Since her mouth was conveniently open, I plunge my tongue into her mouth. I proceed to use my extensive skill as a kisser on her. But I'm neither gentle nor loving about it. Instead, I'm savage and brutal in this kiss, showing my dominance over her. She fights against me, fighting to turn her head, free her arms, or something. I use my immense vampire strength to keep her still. I bring my teeth into the kiss, though not my fangs. One of my upper canines breaks open the inside of her lower lip. Rather than pull away as it starts to bleed, I suckle at her lip, feeding off her blood. She fights even harder, squirming and writhing beneath me. That only succeeds in sending my libido on hyper-drive, causing her to gasp as she feels my rapidly forming erection against her core through our jeans. It's only when I taste her tears as she tries futilely to break free that I decide she's learned her lesson.

In an instant, I'm standing at the foot of the bed. She props herself up to glare fiercely at me. But the sight of her bruised, swollen lips and mussed hair is thoroughly arousing and completely negates the heat she tries to put into her glare. "I am _not_ a teddy bear," I tell her darkly. "Don't _ever_ think of me like that again."

With that, I vamp out of her room and downstairs. I grab a bottle of bourbon from the alcohol cabinet in the foyer and completely bypass getting a glass as I take a long swallow straight from the bottle. I put up my walls to keep my fury to myself and out of the empathy link our jewelry connects us with. It doesn't stop me from hearing her cry of frustration or the dull _thud_ of a pillow hitting a wall. After another long swallow, I set the bottle down and proceed to build a fire in the hearth. Once the flames are roaring up, I pick up my bottle again to take another swallow.

As I'm taking another swallow, Elena sends me the emotional equivalent of an apology. I keep my walls up and don't let her feel any of my emotions. It takes the entire bottle to finally be able to get my fury under control. I set the empty bottle on an end table and turn to stare into the flames.

Suddenly, I get the eerie sensation of not being alone in my body. Surprise floods through me. Surprise turns to wonder as I recognize the 'feel' of the spirit that had joined me: Elena. 'How?' I think.

Her shock hits me before I'm once again alone in my body. It takes a few seconds to regain control over myself enough to vamp upstairs to bang on her bathroom door. "Elena, you had better tell me I was imagining things just now!" I call through the door.

"If you're talking about what I _think_ you're talking about, then I don't think you were," she calls back. I hear her clambering out of the tub. "Hold on, let me get dressed!"

"Too late, I'm coming in," I say, pulling my lock-pick from my jeans pocket. I quickly have the door unlocked and push it open.

"Damon!" she yelps, clinging to the towel she had wrapped around her body.

"If you just did what I _think_ you just did, you just got a lot more personal with me than just seeing me naked," I say, raising an eyebrow at her. "Now, did you _really_ just send your spirit _into_ my body?"

"Apparently so," she says weakly. "I don't even know _how_ I did it!"

"What were you doing that led to it happening?" I demand.

"Well, I had put myself into a trance-state to try and figure out this bond we have. I threw my spirit into it a lot like I threw my spirit into your emotional current the other night to figure out your emotions. Next thing I knew I was caught up even more intensely in the current in it than I was in your emotional current. Immediately after that, I was looking out _your_ eyes!" she says, shaking her head in wonder. _"I heard your thoughts!_ That surprised me enough to open my eyes and break the trance. And I was back in my own body."

I run a hand through my hair, shaking my head in disbelief. "This is insane," I say.

"You're telling me!" she snaps. "Do you know how _freaky_ it is to suddenly find yourself in someone else's body and hearing their thoughts?"

"Do you know how _freaky_ it is to suddenly have someone else in your head?" I retort.

"Point taken," she concedes. "Do you think maybe it has something to do with our jewelry?"

"The witch never mentioned putting that sort of enchantment on it," I say.

"Did she mention being able to send mental images to each other? Because we can do that," she points out.

"True," I concede. "And no, she didn't."

"Or maybe it's an older enchantment that she didn't know about. You said that it had been enchanted against damage centuries before it was handed on to you. Perhaps other enchantments had been placed on it in those centuries that had been lost with time," she says.

"We'd need a witch to check it out. And our resident witch happens to have this massive grudge against me," I point out.

"We'll just have to find another witch," she tells me. She sighs. "But we can't do that with your brother locked up in the basement. I doubt he'd play nice just to let us go off on an adventure to find out more about this jewelry. If anything, this has given him even _more_ reason to play hardball."

"Last night I told him I'd give him a day to start playing nice on his own before I started with the drastic measures," I tell her. "Considering how long he's gone without blood, I think we can start on the drastic measures a little early. We don't want him to start desiccating."

She purses her lips as she thinks. "Let me talk to him," she says finally.

"Elena, I don't think that's a wise idea," I protest. "He hasn't had any sort of blood in nearly two and a half days. His sanity is only going to be holding on by a thread at this point. The least little thing could cause him to try to feed on you. And when Stefan feeds on a human, the results aren't very pretty."

"You can stay and watch. I just want to talk to him," she tells me. "You'll be right there should he try anything. You're fresh and you've been feeding regularly. He's running on fumes and on the verge of desiccating. Not to mention he's still loaded with vervaine because he hasn't had any blood to get it out of his system. You can take him. Or at least hold him back long enough for me to get out of the cell. If all else fails, snap his neck to take him out of commission for a while."

I search her eyes and she lets me feel just how determined she is to go through with this. I sigh. "Fine. But you're not going in the cell. It's too damn dangerous," I say. "You're staying outside the door."

She sighs. "I had been meaning to slap him," she tells me. "I deserve at least that much for all the hell he's put me through."

"You can slap him when he's back on the animal diet and no longer on the verge of desiccating," I say firmly. I send her the emotional equivalent of putting my foot down on this.

She thinks it over and realizes that's the best she's going to get from me. "Fine," she says. "Let's go."

I leave the room so she can get dressed. Once she's dressed, we head downstairs. Maybe she'll be able to get through to him where I wasn't.

**Stefan**

I grit my teeth. Now she's able to send her spirit into his body? This is getting downright ridiculous! I don't know what she thinks she's going to accomplish by talking to me, but I don't want to hear any of it. Unfortunately, I know they're not going to give me any choice in the matter.


End file.
